Chatter
by priscel
Summary: A rash of unexplained disappearances all over the globe has called the attention of the Preventers. The investigation heats up and things get stranger when Heero and Wufei notice that the closer they get to the root of the disappearances, the more Duo los


Disclaimer: I don't own, so don't sue! I wouldn't have been eating noodles when I was in college if I did, hmm or maybe I would have because I like noodles.

Warnings: OCCness, slaverybrutalityncs (in the past), derogatory language (including racial slurs- it's not meant to offend but there's a reason, read and see), horror, gore, Angst, and maybe smoochiness and oh other stuff that I can't think of cuz I'm just starting this baby.

AN: I want to thank my betas Moofie and Yngve, I can't say how much I appreciate their help.

Chatter

Part I

A.C. 201, late May.

The morning sky rumbled as thick grey clouds blotted out the rising sun and a still quiet blanketed the land. Despite the major hustle and bustle of Iowa's major cities, it still had numerous small towns and farming communities, separated greatly by land and lots of road to travel from one city to the next.

A traveler riding along Route 6 would find nothing too interesting here. Nope, just loads and loads of flat land interrupted by a farm, a lone house or cluster of them with a lengthy hill or two, giving the impression that the land actually moved. The only other vaguely interesting sights were the corn crops and soy beans plots that were interrupted by the occasional deer.

"Soy beans... damn it, Teresa, you never told me there would be nothing to DO when we started this trip to see your grandparents uh... where was that place again, uh... Cornell, Cornish!" She threw her hands up dramatically showering Teresa with popcorn, obviously her fuel for trying to find the name of the city. "Sure as hell wasn't Newton since we passed it... can't we go back to Des Moines?" the disgruntled passenger continued to grumble despite the long suffering glare Teresa sent her way as she picked a piece of popcorn out of her short brown hair.

"Grinnell, it's called Grinnell. Besides, it's just a short visit and I knew if I brought you along I'd never have to worry about stopping at Mobile or something for food." She smiled cheekily as she ate some of the popcorn off of her lap. "Mmm... you make the best breakfast."

The said passenger snorted which caused her long black bangs to flutter as she narrowed her hazel eyes at Teresa who laughed as she pouted and mumbled to Teresa "It's too early."

"Aw come on Mel. I promise it'll be a shor.."

"Look!" Teresa gave Mel a confused glance as Mel stared wide eyed at the tiny figure in the road.

"It's probably a deer."

"But why is it just standing in the road like that." Mel wrapped her arms around herself to stop from shivering as the deer remained in the road, undaunted by their approach.

Undeterred by the deer's presence, Teresa kept her speed at 70 mph. Her dark brown brows furrowed in irritation when she realized the deer hadn't moved yet. "Stupid animal," she muttered as they got closer to the deer and started honking the horn. Mel turned her worried eyes to Teresa who offered her a comforting hand on her shoulder, when suddenly the deer was a few feet in front of the car.

"Shit!" Teresa screamed as she made a hard left to drive behind the deer incase it decided to make a dash for safety.

The car came to a screeching halt, jostling its passengers violently before letting it's safety straps snap them back into their seats. Heavy pants filled the car as they slowed to a stop on the side of the road. Mel moved anxiously in her seat, trying to turn around while keeping her now too tight seatbelt on to look out the back window. Teresa, who had been bracing her head on top of her hands on the steering wheel, looked up into the rearview mirror to see no deer but a brown wisp of something shifting across the road to a rundown farm shed near an overgrown field.

In the distance, was a house that looked darker and more menacing then the browning grass and leafless trees near it. Teresa tried to look away but there was a pull that she couldn't fight. The house seemed to envelop its surroundings, but soon all Teresa could see was the house. There was something else as well, she could hear something. She shook her head lightly trying to squelch the impossibility of hearing something from a house that far away and through a mirror of all things. Her mahogany eyes widened and took on a darker shade, slowly glossing over. "So faint," she mouthed to herself as she strained to hear the nearly inaudible sound, unconsciously moving closer to the mirror, "there are whispers..."

"Whispers? What are you ..." Mel turned to her friend and gawked at her as if she had lost her mind. She called to Teresa but got no response. She moved forward to see a glassy far away look she had never seen before on her friend's face and then she realized it was colder in the car, even though the temperature on the displayed in the consol said it was 76, 'The heat is on?' She thought and turned the knob all the way up, but she could see the heat of her breaths and the silent ones from Teresa, condense into cloudy puffs of air. It was so quiet. All she could hear was the thumping of her own pulse in her ears and the pounding of her heart as it increased it's rhythmic beat when she jumped at the flash of bright electric blue that bathed everything in an ethereal glow followed seconds later by the booming sound of thunder. The thunder was so loud that it swallowed Mel's startled scream.

Panting and coughing from the scream that tore through her throat during the flash, she glanced to find Teresa hadn't moved. She moved to Teresa's ear and screamed again.

"TERESA!" Mel shouted, relief sounding in her slightly horse voice when she saw her blink and sit back in her seat.

"Huh! What?" Teresa blinked several times, her eyes felt strange.

"This is giving me the fucking creeps." Mel said while she locked the car doors and glanced at the windows to make sure they were up. She looked over to her friend who had started to stare into the mirror again and threw a handful of popcorn at her.

"Hey! You're cleaning it up before we leave from gramps'!" Teresa demanded hotly, brushing popcorn out of her lap when another piece of popcorn came into her view, dangling from a few strains of her hair. She picked it out and sent another irritated glare in Mel's direction.

"Ok! I have no problem doing that as long as you start this car up and start MOVING! NOW! I'm about to have a freakin' heart attack!" She yelled and stole a glance at the rear view mirror. "And that... that deer just came back! It's wrong. It's eyes..." Mel shook her head, pointing at the mirror on her side of the car. She bowed he head and drew her hand to her lap where she began wringing her hands as spoken again, her voice softer with a quiver in it that made her stutter over words with the letter 'e' in it. "...Teresa there were these reports I came across when I was looking on the net to find out about Grinnell and recently, they have been saying that along this route... kids, people have been disappearing." Mel glanced up imploringly at Teresa to see a dubious look on her face. She shook her at the hurt she felt and tried to convince her again. "I'm serious! They only found their cars and ... and.. Just start the car Goddamn it!" Mel yelled nervously, fidgeting when she glimpsed her side door mirror again. Her hazel eyes widen fear when she realized the deer was practically at her door. She stared at it through the mirror, despite how unnerving it was to know that if she turned around in her seat she would probably see it at the back door. But she couldn't take her eyes away, it just didn't look right. It seemed wrong some how.

"Shesh... FINE!" Teresa's abrupt rise in tone and the voiced agitation there, made Mel jump.

The car engine revved as it jostled them a few times as if it were trying to stall. Mel kept her eyes fixed to the dashboard, twisting her hands until the car drove smoothly down the road. Teresa exhaled heavily. She hadn't realized that she was holding her breath. She turned slightly to check on her friend and check the mirror. No deer. No house. A start of a small hill of tall prairie grass and a thicket of trees blocked it from view she guessed. She turned her attention back to her pale and shaking friend. With the earlier agitation that felt alien to her gone, concern was thick in her throat when spoke with a apologetic tone. "What was it about the deer Mel? I guess I wa-"

"...had ...eyes" Mel continued to stare off, rubbing her arms despite the 87 degree heat blasting through the vents from her earlier fiddling.

"What? I didn't hear ya Mel?" Mel looked across from the dashboard to Teresa with tears in her eyes. "Mel?"

"It had no eyes. No... eyes. It had no face just a mo... a mouth, a human mouth and it smiled at me."

00ooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0ooo00

The sound of several channels being tuned in and could be heard, before the listener settled on what he was searching for.

/...fire department were able to save all occupants as the fire continued to ravage the dilapidated apartment complex. Sank health officials have yet to release the name of persons involved in this rent scandal nor recover the money swindled out of these unfortunate tenants. St. John's Roman Catholic Church have already began pulling out spare cots and receiving donations to provide food and shelter to the families who have lost everything in the fire, and sometimes every one. Our hearts go out to tenants that lost their lives today. We'll keep you posted on how these families cope with their loss./

/Thank you, Frida. On a similar glum note, missing persons reports are on the rise. Strangely enough it seems to be locale specific: Route 6. From interviewing the families of these missing people, they all report that whether walking, driving or biking along this 'route 6' they all disappeared without a trace. The joint effort of various police officials across the states in North America and the authorities in Switzerland have not been able to pinpoint why that particular roadway has been the focus incidence. They have rerouted travelers as best they can and have asked that people who usually use these routes to take alternative roadways. It seems that even the FBI does not have a statement at this time and have been unable to determine a set pattern to these wide spread disappearances. Word has spread of possible FBI involvement to keep people from panicking and again say that these random cases of disappearan-/

Click.

"Heero, I was listening to that!" He snatched the palm sized object away from Heero.

"Hn. We need to contact Une and let her know that we're on our way."

"If your going to force her to listen to this classical crap then she can handle a little feedback from Izzy here." Duo turned in his seat to send a glare at the grunt from the back seat. "You have no say in this Chang, you asked us for the ride."

"Humph. If that's the case than neither do you Maxwell because this is Yuy's car." Wufei had a smug look on his face as he lounged back behind Heero, thinking he had beaten the braided baka.

"Yes, _we_ do. Izzy don't listen to that tight ass. I'm his partner, soo I have say so in what we listen to." Duo settled in his seat, holding Izzy protectively to his chest as he puckered lower lip and glared at Wufei through the rearview mirror.

Wufei glanced up to see the baka's expression, sending a glare of his own as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I refuse to acknowledge that _thing _in this conversation." Wufei turned toward the window, wondering how much of the braided fool he could fit through the window before Yuy disemboweled him for harming his partner.

"Heero doesn't call Izzy a _thing_, he's got feelings yanno."

"I call it broadband radio." Heero deadpanned with a shrug of his shoulders to hide the mirth playing in his eyes.

"He's a palm sized, broadband radio with Deathscythe's plating." Duo continued, oblivious to Heero's comment. "He can serve as a cell phone, mini-computer, locator, an igniter in a tight spot and a scrambler. All done by my skillful hands." Duo said proudly, attempting to turn Izzy back on when Heero snatched it from his hands. Duo pouted, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning a little closer to Heero to glare at Wufei over his shoulder, when he heard him snorting in amusement.

"A glorified lighter and butt warmer, if I must qualify _it_ as something."

"Whatever. Since Heero has just kidnaped Izzy, I say it's time to listen to something bumping..." Duo's questing hand was shoved back toward him. Annoyed violet met amused cobalt blue before turning away and staring out his window.

"I swear you're trying to bore people to sleep with that stuff." Duo gestured to the car radio in a grumble. Heero, who had Izzy in his lap, turned his head slightly to try and hide the flush that crept into his cheeks. 'Sleep.' The word echoed in Duo's mind. He was kind of out of it, but he was a Gundam pilot, there had been many times that he was forced to go without sleep.

'Man I'm getting old, that's what it is.' He imagined himself as old and wrinkly, but oddly enough his hair was still long and retained a great deal of its chestnut color. Then he thought of himself chasing after young girls and being just as bad as Howard but not as bad as G; he was going to be a perverted old man. He groaned to himself smirking at the funny images his tired mind supplied. He hadn't been getting much sleep in the past two weeks and it was seriously taking it's toll after a four day operation that left him with only 4hrs of sleep. Then he thought back to the music, yawning hugely.

"Dumb boring...nice beat... still too slow..no bump... sleep." Then it hit him. "Sleep? Heero! I don't need to sleep right now yanno. I'm fine. Wide awake, see." Duo leaned over toward Heero and put his thumb and index fingers over his eyes to pull back his eyelids even further, showing his slight bloodshot eyes to Heero to prove his point.

Heero's breath caught. He was thankful he was waiting for the light to turn when Duo did the eye thing, he was sure the jutting of the car will in motion would have been a dead give away that something so strange as Duo doing something like that had such an effect on him. He had admired the other pilot's eyes before, but he saw them more clearly with Duo's dramatics. They were beautiful, but instead of saying what was on his mind and confusing the hell out of him at the same time, he heard himself say blandly with a hint of concern, "Hn. You need to at least take another nap, so you won't fall asleep during the briefing."

Wufei sat up slightly in his seat, his concerned look appeared to be one of annoyance when he narrowed his eyes at Duo before throwing in his two cents. "You could have gone home, Maxwell. We would have filled you in on the mission details and who was selected-"

"I don't like hearing stuff second hand. I'm awake and coherent..." Duo replied with a pout, fighting back another yawn.

Wufei snorted. "I wouldn't say you referring to that _thing_ as 'Izzy' and saying that it's capable of having its feelings hurt, is any proof of your coherency or your sanity for that matter."

Duo ignored Wufei and continued. "Besides, we already spoke to Une before we left Belfast and when we reached Liverpool. I don't see why we can't wait and talk to her after the briefing. Hmm.. Betcha 20 bucks that this new case we're being briefed on is that one!" He pointed at the now silent broadband radio that rested in Heero's lap. "If this rash of disappearances has reached Sank, then it means the cops weren't able to keep it underwraps or it was just too weird for them to handle. So it's the Preventers, mainly us, who get the whack jobs and get to whack them back. Haha. We're like the 'X-files'. I can be Mulder and you can be that Skinner dude, but don't shave your head... uh, damn... a bald Heero," Duo shivered and Heero's lips quirked at the edges as he glanced in the rearview mirror to see Wufei sitting quietly with his eyes closed and an indignant expression on his face.

He chuckled to himself, he knew Wufei was listening and the snort that failed to hide the chuckle that escaped his calm exterior made Heero's quirked lips become a smirk. It was a funny thought. No matter what he did to it, his chocolate locks remained unruly, uncooperative and just damn untamable. He had settled into thinking that his hair had a mind of it's own, but maybe if he shaved it off... " I think that would be kinda scary. And hey Wuffers, you can be Scu-"

"No, Maxwell. I am not some weak woman, nor am I your subordinate. How can I be Scully. That onna, perhaps Sally would be a better choice." Wufei stated rather than asked. He was more than a little pissed since he couldn't use his motorcycle after it was returned to him by a certain female. It really was a small thing to fix and he would have _if_ he was told this when Sally returned it early that morning. They both lived in the same apartment building and Wufei didn't mind swapping vehicles with her. He liked the gunmetal Camry she had but he preferred his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (1).

His eyebrows furled, 'the briefing is more important. I'll just have to have a talk with that woman about proper procedures regarding the use and care of other peoples things. Nataku, it's injustice to have to be subjected to the abuse of not one pranking and mischievous so hai (2), but two.' He smiled to himself and then stopped, trying to summon back the annoyance he was used to showing at either of their antics. 'That's right Wufei, shuck it with all the other dishonorable feelings you have for her... haha no, you know it's not a _her_ you want and you goddamn well know that you won't be disgracing your ancestors for acknowledging it. So get your head out of your ass, man!'

He shook his head, annoyance wasn't so hard to muster now that the voice in his head was bitching at him. He glared at the crown of Duo's hair visible from the back of his seat. He wanted to avoid asking Yuy or Maxwell for a ride because he knew they had just returned from a mission a few hours ago. Well, they weren't 'missions' in the past sense, the world was supposedly in peace, yet sometimes cases required mission like parameters. It was not very honorable to bug exhausted friends, even though that never stopped Maxwell. He couldn't help the feeling of relief when he found out that they were both going into the office anyway when he called Heero on his cell.

'Phht! You just didn't want to see him, that's all. Whaddya doing lying to yourself? Again?'

'They are clearly tired and have better things to do than-'

'_Wouldn't _love nothing more than to offer a friend a ride because his _ride_ just so happens to have a flat. A flat that wasn't there, if we recall, when Sal brought our baby back but was when we went out, not five minutes after her as she pulled out and blew you a kiss.' Wufei made a face at that.

"I didn't say you had to get sex change or anything like that buddy." Duo turned in his seat to look at Wufei seated behind Heero with a frown on his face. "It's just role playing and in this case a comparison. Shesh man, lighten up. I'm the one who should be cranky running off of nearly zero zzz's." Duo continued to grumble, his bottom lip puckering out into a half pout, completely oblivious to the sideway glances he was getting from Heero. "Besides, Wuffles, they were partners and she wasn't his subordinate-"

"Yes she was, when she first arrived. Maxwell, stop mutilating my name." It was an odd thing to argue with oneself, well not really, it was odd that the voice in his head sounded like the loud mouth baka before him.

"Say pretty please with a cherry on top and I might consider it." Duo grinned.

"..."

"Feifei, so what if she was a greenhorn in the beginning. That was the beginning yanno and that didn't last very long." Duo leaned on his arm rest, his grin growing when he noticed Wufei's eyebrow twitching.

"You just called me fat, Maxwell. Honestly, I don't see why you're so fascinated with these late twentieth century's science fiction shows." Concern forgotten and annoyance renewed, Wufei sent a glare with a slight smirk thinking he had shushed the braided nuisance with that comment.

"If they ain't so great, Wuffles, then why do you agree to watch them with me when I ask or mention them?"

Heero lifted his eyebrows, he wanted to know that himself. He didn't understand why he couldn't just lift one eyebrow like everyone else. These gestures were never a part of primary training and neither was whistling until Maxwell had taught him how. Heero was unconsciously tightening his grip on the steering wheel as his mind wondered back to the here and now, waiting for Wufei's answer.

Wufei flushed and settled his arms across his chest once again. "I guess you could say I was doing you a favor."

"Ha! Favor my ass. You like those shows and you know it." Duo shook a finger at Wufei with a big smile on his face.

'You said it Maxwell. Took the words right out of my mouth.'

"..." Wufei squelched his thoughts before they could be voiced by the nuisance possessing them, knowing they would mock him for not being subtle enough. He ducked his head and wondered why his inner thoughts had to take after Maxwell, right down to his vulgar use of language.

"We're here." Heero spoke stopping Duo before he had a chance to tease Wufei into a justice rant and have to go looking for a hiding Duo and drag in a fuming dragon to the briefing room.

They split up, Wufei heading to the briefing room and the two off to the equipment room to return their supplies. On their way to the briefing room Duo was dawning a smile, walking with a hop in his step to the rhythm of his hummed tune that was occasionally interrupted by a yawn or two. Heero walked with more of a sedate pace a little behind him, reading a news paper as he, ever so often, gave a grunt in greeting or nod to those Duo was offering smile lite hellos and good mornings to as they passed.

They walked into the steady murmur of the briefing room, despite the fact they had just gotten back, most of the surprised looks were because they were pristine and ready even though Duo seemed to be dragging a bit. The only two strongly aware of just how tired Duo was his partner and Wufei who had just taken a seat the round table. An agent in his late thirties approached the pair with a relieved and expectant expression on his face. "I really appreciate you two for coming to this briefing. As I told, Agent Chang, this won't be like your usual cases. We know how Commander Une covets you to special ops mostly."

"No prob, Agent Heishu." Duo yawned. "I think I'm losing my touch though, I've never been this tired before." Agent Heishu looked sympathetic and distracted at the same time. He kept glancing at the desk in front of the room where he and Une would be standing for this briefing session. On top of the oak wood desk was a brief case, 'evidence', he had murmured to himself more than once as he fidgeted next to the closed case.

"Baka. You should've done as I suggested earlier." Heero spoke quietly to Duo, as Agent Heishu bowed to them in greeting. Heero and Duo returned the gesture before they turned and went to Wufei who sat near the back of the room.

"Hmm? No, that would've been painful. I was fine until you tricked me. It's your fault you know." Duo plopped down into a chair next Wufei, his eyes were already half shut.

"Maxwell." It more like 'I told you so in Wufeiese' and Duo sighed, seeing the half smirk on the black haired man's face.

Duo smiled brightly but his eyes were slits and Wufei raised a brow. He glanced at Heero who was to his left, leaning against the wall then back at Duo who hadn't moved. He waved his hand in front of the grinning baka's face and got no reaction. He chuckled to himself, only Maxwell could fall asleep like that. He tried to shake him awake but Duo seemed to move like a rag doll, flopping everywhere. But it was a success.

"Huh?" He mumbled before bracing his elbows on the round table and holding his head as he peered at Wufei through the corner of his eyes.

"You should have stayed home."

"Yeah, yeah. You two were right...ok... I'm just going to take a nap, k? Just to take the edge off and give me a little more energy to stay with ya during the briefing." The last part came out slurred in a half mumble as his shoulders drooped and he pillowed his head across his now folded arms. His sleeping face relaxing as he faced Wufei. Wufei scowled to himself when he felt heat rising in his cheeks face. He had began to wonder if that was how Duo always looked when he fell asleep, 'So peaceful.' He thought, letting his eyes trace up the side of one cheek on Duo's heart shaped face, then the line of his nose and his thick lashes, his lips... '...much fuller than my own. I wonder wh-', he stopped that line of thought. He already knew where it was headed and flushed in embarrassment at openly studying Duo in his sleep, in front of Heero, his partner. He felt there was no place for his misplaced affections and that they wouldn't be returned, since it seemed that it wasn't Duo's preference.

He let the thought go completely and a mischievous took its place as he let it flicker across his face. He was thinking of a way to repay all the mistreatment he'd suffered at the hands of one Duo Maxwell and how to implement it. Doing it all while Duo slept would be tricky and some what underhanded, but it would be justice. Whatever he had intended to do though, he dropped when Heero placed a hand on his shoulder.

They exchanged a look and Wufei grunted, settling in his seat crossing his arms over his chest. 'Let Maxwell have his nap,' Wufei translated to himself from the almost invisible gesture and touch of his messy haired friend. Wufei was sure of one thing, and that was that Heero had masked what he felt when he saw how much he was staring at Duo. Wufei knew it. He sent an agitated glance at Heero relaxing against the wall, his messy bangs casting shadows over his deep blue eyes that told so much while his face remained expressionless. He'd seen the changes that Duo had brought about in Heero and those changes had made it hard for the once suicidal boy to tuck away his emotions.

Wufei came out of his musings and looked toward the head of the room. His eyes glanced all around them and then at the clock situated above the black chalkboard. They all were early and Une hadn't arrived yet. That in itself was unusual, the Lady prided herself on her punctuality and even though she scheduled these meetings on the hour she'd start them a few minutes early. Anyone requested to be there would do their best to be there a good ten minutes before the scheduled time.

Wufei was brought out of his light meditation by a shiver that stole across him. Something was off and he couldn't tell what. He surveyed the room: on going conversations amongst the other Preventers were not overly disturbing, but there was a low whisper. So loud it was out of place among the medley of voices. It was strange that he couldn't hear something louder than Duo's soft snore but lower that a whisper and no one else seemed to. He tried to find it's source, but it seemed to echo in the room. Although still inaudible, it was a sound, now that he concentrated on it it was more like several sounds overlapping each other, intermingling.

Duo slept on, awareness of his surroundings slipping away as he shifted in his seat. Then the room was gone and he was awake and in complete darkness. It hurt to breathe the cold air, but he was breathing. A feeling of fear and regret swept over him, so strong he swooned and collided with a wall.

'Damn it!' he clutched his head, trying to ease the spinning, 'why does it feel wrong to breathe.' He felt his throat and winced at the pain, panting to breathe, his own breath heavy in the silence. Once the world stilled, he looked up and began to feel around with the limited movement his body would allow. There was a loud clank and he looked up to see a sliver of light, he hadn't noticed it before, gleaming from the now cracked door to his prison.

'It hadn't been there before.' He was confused as hell. He wanted answers and he wanted to know what happen at headquarters. 'What happened to Heero and Wufei? Was there secret attack on HQ and I slept through it all? Shit! That's so fucking humiliating!' He thought as he moved toward the light, sitting up on his knees, just realizing he had been dragging his body across the damp stone floor. It had crossed his mind, briefly, that this was all some screwed up nightmare, and that he was dreaming, but dreams, although haunting, never were they this vivid, tangible right down to the foul taste in his mouth and the cold seeping through the shreds of what was left of his clothing.

So deep in his thoughts, Duo didn't noticed how the light shifted, a figure moved back and forth. It's shadow growing and taking up most of the light when it would pause and look in on him, then move again. Duo braced his arm on the wall after slipping and trying to get his sore legs to hold him upright. He panted as he pushed himself up to his feet. He regretted it when a new pain made itself known. He knees buckled and his hand gripped for purchase on the stone wall and met only a slimy substance when he was half of the way down.

Duo clenched his teeth at the pain radiating from between his legs. Before he could question and access his injuries, he was up again, heading toward that sliver of light the slime that was slowly covering his hand, as he used the wall to stumble toward it, was forgotten. He wouldn't crawl to his freedom, someway somehow he would get out of there. This feeling was what drove him onward, pushing aside his aches, his injuries, his wet and disheveled state. He felt his anger mount as the words 'squaw' and 'nigger half breed' flitted across his pain ridden mind. He kept moving until he stumbled again but this time he couldn't catch himself, he fell down on something large and bloated. He pushed himself up, his unrestrained hair, hanging loosely all around him as his hands felt the clammy thing that had broken his fall.

There was a little more light now, but not enough for him to try and see what it was. He gasped at the smell that wafted up to his nose as he cautiously sat back on his legs. It was the smell of something burnt. Instantly, flashes of charred, smoking and burning bodies filled his head. That was what he saw when he had returned to church with what the soldiers demanded. His young mind focused on finding two people then, putting aside the grotesque tableau of what was sure to be the fates of everyone in the church in hopes that it really wasn't. That they had somehow made it. Tears that wouldn't fall back then, fell now, as Duo came back to where he was and what he was touching.

"It's wet, slippery... soft and fle-fleshy. Flesh." His unseen lips mouthed. He reeled back to fall hard on his butt and backside. He let out a short scream of pain that gave-way to a coughing fit. 'Why can't I hear anything outside of this room?' He wondered, as his body began to shake. His trembling increased as the pain radiating from the lower half dulled. He wanted to move, to ease the pain some but he wouldn't, he couldn't just give up like that. Duo felt confused. He wasn't going to give up he just wanted to change the way he was positioned. His conflicting thoughts and feelings were maddening. He felt like he was outside himself but not. The pulsing pain that remained, pulled him out of his thoughts, his mind focusing on it. He felt ripped up inside. He was suddenly dry heaving at the smell of the place, room, he was being held in. He braced his stomach, leaning forward causing the weight on his chest to shift and bounce. His breath caught in his throat. 'Bounce? The hell-', his thought, as well as any attempt to investigate through touch what was going on with his chest, was cut off by the light that flooded the prison through the open door.

A dark chuckle echoed through the room as Duo waited for his eyes to adjust. He could hear heavy, mincing steps coming closer, the click of the heel told him this person was male and he smelled of sweat and hay with a coppery tinge to it. He opened his eyes to see the man leaning toward him. He started back, but was yanked forward onto a equally cold wooden floor. 'I had been that close to the door, to freedom.' He thought absently, hating his weaken state and wondering just how long he had been down there. He was suddenly enveloped in warmth. His body shivered, he was feverish and the warmth felt so good, so he forgot himself as he tried to bury himself in it. He gasped at the voice he couldn't make out was in his ear. The heated boozed breath, stinging his skin as he flinched away. He attempted to get away, but the man heldfast to him as he swung him round, dancing to his own mad and malicious cackling.

It wasn't long before Duo's legs gave out and he crumpled to the floor. The man yowled and then shouted in anger as he spat blood laced spit through the open door. The man had kissed him and he bit him without any hesitation. He glanced about and realized, he was in the basement of a house but the door to his prison looked more like a piece of the wall. His eyes felt heavy as the stench drifted out and went up his nose, making the swell of his stomach twitch and ache. He looked up in awe as he mouthed 'Something mov-' when his eyes met two obsidian colored ones.

Duo blinked and looked again. The man was crawling toward the door of their prison looking directly at him; one of his slanted eyes was half open because of the bruise on his brow that went down the side of the man's bronze face, both eyes were framed by sweaty, matted strings of long black hair. Before Duo knew it, he had forced himself up onto his hands and knees and was heading back to him.

'It couldn't be?' He questioned himself, already moving toward the injured man attempting to crawl to him. Had he known he was in that hole with him, he wouldn't have left him there. He felt an immense guilt overtake him. With a heavy heart, he extended his left hand to reach for him and he noticed the dingy lace that covered his honey colored arm. His eyes widen in shock when he felt a pressure settle on his back. He had forgotten about their captor. He pushed back against the weight on his back, when it left a boot came down on his back its place.

He barely heard the man still in their prison scream out something, his name, he wasn't sure but the way the man's lips moved it couldn't be his. His vision was already greying as what was left of his clothes were ripped away from him. He felt a sharp pain before darkness took him in its arms again.

More to come...

(1) www. kawasaki. com /product(underscore)detail. asp? product (equal sign)19& tag (equal sign)motorcycle, no spaces to see Wufei's bike. I imagine it to be black with a red dragon emblazoned on each side, the dragon's mouth open with 'Ninja' coming out in yellow-blue fire.

(2) so hai - idiot in one dilect of chinese. Wahh! I need help with Chinese. My vocab is very limited and I'm unsure if that is the appropriate term. If it's wrong let me know the correct term.


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